Open Anthology of Earlier American Literature

Abstract

For more than a millennium, the Acoma have lived in pueblo settlements on a mesa outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. However, like many Indian people, they suffered at the hands of Spanish conquerors, enslaved and succumbing to smallpox, among other infectious diseases. They also periodically fought with Apache, Comanche, and Ute who raided their community. Forced to adopt Roman Catholicism by the Spanish, they combined elements of their beliefs with those of Christianity. The creator god of the Acoma is associated with the sun, which along with the earth and the surrounding mountains, serve to provide balance in the world. Common to creation myths of the American Southwest, the emergence motif provides the structure for the Acoma story. In emergence myths, creatures emerge through several levels under the earth into the current world above. The reasons for the move upward are various: lack of food, crowding, or even a maturation process from “seed” to “plant.” The creatures are usually animals of various sorts and become totems when they emerge. The earth itself is seen as a womb, and the opening into this world is considered sacred.